 Joe and his twin sister Mamie were born May 2, 1897, in St. Paul and
grew up in Roscoe, Minnesota, where the family moved in 1899. During
World War I (1917-18), Joe served with the United States Army in France.
After his discharge from the service, he spent some time in Washington,
Oregon, Saskatchewan, and Montana, working at various jobs. He worked
for the Great Northern Railroad, did farm work in the Palouse country
of eastern Washington, and was an insurance agent in Spokane.
In 1927 he married Grace Masterson Smith in New York. Grace was born February 5, 1887. They had
one son, Kenneth. Joe worked at the Bronx Zoo. After retirement he moved to Carmel, New
York, where he died February 25, 1974. He is buried in Pinelawn National
Cemetery. Grace died July 2, 1964, and is buried on Long Island.
Kenneth described his father as "a man who was loved by anyone
who knew him. He was kind and generous and never had a bad word for
anyone. I was privileged to work with him for eight years, and to this
day men on the job tell me what a wonderful man he was."
Source: Eighteen Cousins, by Bert Jahn (1988)
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